Whiting arnold



(No Model.)

W. ARNOLD. FRUIT PIGKERS LADDER.

No. 445,487. Patented Jen. 2.7, 1.891.

A TTOHNE YS 'f Nrrnn STATES lVHITING ARNOLD, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

FRUITMPICKERS LADDER.

`iSEECIIEICA'JllOhT forming part of Letters Patent No. 445,487, dated January 2*?, 1891. Application filed October 29, 1890. Serial No. 869,648. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, VHITING ARNOLD, of New York city, in the .county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Fruit-Pickeris Truck-Ladder, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descripti-on.

My invention relates to a truck-ladder for fruit-pickers use; and the object of the invention is to provide a device capable of being readily conveyed from tree to tree, and to so combine a ladder with a truck that the ladder may be conveniently raised into a tree and held at any inclination necessary to en able the picker to work to the best advantage and without resting the upper end ot' the ladder against any of the boughs.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of simple and durable construction in which a ladder may be quickly and readily elevated or lowered, and, when desired, wherein the ladderl may be quickly detached from the truck and a longer or a slierten ladder be substituted if circumstances demand.

The invention consists in t-hc novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying' drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof; and Fig. is a side elevation partly in section, the device being drawn upon av larger scale than in Figs. 1 and 2.

The truck A is preferably made as lightas possible consistent with strength, and usually' consists of side beams d, connected by front and rear end bars d, the rear end bar or beam being rigidly attached to an axle having wheels d2 mounted at its ends, an axle provided with similar wheels being pivot-ed to the front bar or beam a', and to the for ward axle a tongue asis attached in any suitable or approved manner. A shaft 10 is held to turn in hangers 11, which hangers vare atftached to opposite sides of the truck and exfA tend downward below the same. One end of the shaft extends some distance beyond its hanger, and said projecting end has secured thereto a crank 12, and upon the shaft, between the crank and the hanger, a ratchetwheel 13 is rigidly attached, the said ratchetg wheel being engaged by a spring-pressed pawl 14, pivoted upon the hanger, as is best shown in Fig. 3.

At or near the forward end of the truck, in the inner faces of the side beams a., recesses 15 are produced, and in each of the recesses a grooved pulley 16 is pivoted. Between the shaft 10 and the pulleys 16 brackets 17 are firmly attached to the upper faces of the side beams of the truck,in which brackets the extremities of a shaft 18 are rigidly secured or held to turn, as may be found most desirable in practice. Upon the shaft 18 two sockets 19 are held .to slide, which sockets comprise cup-like bodies and shanks projected from the bodies, which Shanks are provided with apertures1 through which apertures the shaft 1S extends.

The ladder B is preferably made tapering, being widest at the base, and the sides of the ladder at the base are preferably reduced and so shaped as to fit neatly into the cuplike bodies of the sockets. The sides of the ladder near their base are also each provided with an outwardly-proj ecting arm 20, the arms being at a right angle to the ladder, as best shown in Fig. 3, and in the extremities of the arms one or more apertures 21 are produced parallel withV the ladder. The ladder is further provided at one side with an eye or staple 22, which is connected by a rope or chain 23 with another eye or staple 24, attached to the truck, the said rope or chain bein g adapted to limit the forward movement of the ladder, checking the same when in a perpendicular position. A similar stay rope or chain may be attached to the opposite side of the ladder if in practice it be found desirable, and eyes or staples 25 may be and preferably are secured in the sides of the ladder near its upper end, and to these upper eyes or staples guy-ropes may be secured, the said ropes being of sufficient length to lead downward to the ground. These guy-ropes are necessary only when the ladder is of great length.

IOO

The ladder is elevated through the medium of cables 2G, attached to and adapted to bo wound upon the shaft 10, one cable being made to pass from the shaft upward over each pulley 16, and at the ends of said cables hooks 27 or their equivalents are attached, the said hooks being adapted to enter the apertures 21 in the arms 2O of the ladder.

Thus in operation, when theladdcr is lying horizontally down upon the truck, the truck may be conveniently wheeled to the orchard,

and the ladder may be conveniently elevated so that its upper end willextend upward into any chosen tree by simply turning the shaft 10, whereupon the cables 2G will be wound upon the shaft, causing the hook ends of the cables to draw downward and forward upon the arms 2O of theladder. This operation is continued until the ladder is brought to the desired height and inclination, at which moment the pawl '14 is made to engage with the ratchet 13, and the ladder is held securely upon the truck.

lt is evident that ladders of different width may be employed in connection with the truck, as the sockets 19 may be adjusted out.- ward or inward upon the shaft 1S, and the ladders are readily detachable from the sockets.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a device of the character described, the combination, with a truck provided with a windlass and guide-pulleys and cables attached to the windlass extending upward over the pulleys and provided with hooks upon their upper or outer ends, of a ladder pivoted at its base upon the truck and arms projected at an angle from the sides of the ladder and apertured to receive the hooks of the cables, as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a device of the characterdescribed, the combination, with a truck, a shaft journaled in hangers beneath the same, provided with a crank and an attached ratchet-wheel adapted for engagement with a spring-pressed pawl, guide-pulleys located between the shaft and the forward end of the truck, cables attached to the shaft and passing upward over the guide-pulleys, and hooks secured to the upper or outer ends of the cables, of a shaft mounted upon the upper portion of the truck, sockets movable upon the shaft, a ladder having its side pieces at their lower ends shaped to fltinto the sockets, and arms projected at an angle from the sides of the ladder near its base, the said arms being apcrtured to receive the hooksof the cables, as and for the purpose specified.

In a device of the character described, the combination, with a truck, a shaft journaled in hangers beneath the same, provided with a crank andan attached ratchet-wheel adapted for engagement with a spring-pressed pawl, guide-pulleys located between the shaft and the forward end of the truck, cables attached to the shaft and passing upward over the guide-pulleys, and hooks secured to the upper or outer ends of the cables, of a shaft mounted upon the upper portion of the truck, sockets movable upon the shaft, a ladder having its side pieces at their lower ends shaped to fit into the sockets, arms projected at an angle from the sides of the ladder near its base, the said arms being apertured to receive the hooks of the cables, and means for limiting the upward movement of the ladder, substantially as shown and described.

VHITING ARNOLD. XVitnesses:

EDWIN M. W IGHT, BENJ. S. MoREHoUsE. 

